Worth it
by Emmett's Delight
Summary: Brendan wants to show Ste what he means to him, but what is Ste up to?
1. Chapter 1

Brendan sighed as he got out of bed and looked at the empty cold space next to him. He scanned the room and found the remains of the night before, three empty beer cans, half a bottle of Whiskey and smiled to himself when he saw the empty bottle of lube and used condoms.

It had been a brilliant night one of their best yet, but Ste had again cut and run before he woke up to avoid him. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighs again. He'd fucked up this relationship (was it even a relationship) so many times and he really wanted to get it right this time. He'd changed and would carry on trying for the sake of the boy, he loved him more than he loved anyone else. It was about time he told Steven this and more importantly showed him.

He had fought his demons with the lads help, he'd told him about all his past crimes and the abuse at the hands of his father. Yet the boy still loved him and wanted him. Well so he had thought until this last week, every night they spent together exploring each others bodies and having the best sex of their lives. Yet every morning Brendan woke up Ste had left. When Brendan asked him about this he had just said he was on the early shift in the deli and there was nothing else to it and smiled at Brendan and kissed him passionately.

However Brendan couldn't get the feeling that something else was to blame and that Ste didn't want to wake up next to him. He looked in the mirror and saw how bloodshot his eyes were and the lines that were forming on his face. He made a promise to himself as he looked in the mirror and saw the darkness of his soul. He was going to show Ste that life with him was worth it and he could make him happy. The lad had put so much faith and hope into their relationship and he was not going to let him down. Fuck it he wanted this for himself as well, he may be changing but he was still a selfish man at heart where Ste Hay was concerned.

He opened the bedroom door and walked to the shower, he wanted to look his best today for what he was about to do. It scared and excited him at the same time. He was ready to make a commitment to his boy and he was afraid of rejection. He shrugged off the feeling of doom, and turned the shower on and stood under it thinking what he was going to say and how it might pan out. He went over and over the words in his head, he needed to get them just right.

After his shower he got dressed, in his tightest blue jeans and couldn't decide on a shirt until his eyes fell on the bright red one in the corner of his wardrobe. He smirked to himself at the memories that brought back and decided this was the shirt for today. After all it was a very special day for them both.

Brendan then took some of his gel and styled his hair the way Ste liked it and for good luck put some of his special tea tree moisturiser on his face. He took one last look at himself and hooded his head at what he saw. He took his leather jacket off the back of the door, hung it over his shoulder and left the flat.

He marched to the deli, his stomach was churning with nerves, he'd never felt like this before, nothing had ever been this important to him. He shook his head to get the worry and negativity out of his mind and opened the door and put his sexist smile on his face. He was met by Doug...

"What do you want Brendan, come to gloat finally have you?"

"What do you mean Douglas, where is Ste?"

"He hasn't told you then?"

"What, told me what?" Brendan was worried where this conversation was going and what Ste had been up too.

"He doesn't work here anymore Brendan, he left a week ago after a row about you. I asked him to leave you and come back to me. He told me he could no longer work with me, and that you were the only man he ever loved. He then asked me to buy him out of the deli"

Despite his worry Brendan couldn't help a smile forming on his lips "The only man he whoever loved... Where is he Doug?"

"I don't know and if I did I'd hardly tell you would I?"

Brendan sniffed and turned on his heel, but couldn't resist a final shot at Doug "I love Ste more than you or anyone ever could and when I find him I will make his life perfect, so don't even try to get between us"

"Don't worry Brendan Ste has put me in my place when it comes to you"

Brendan left the deli with a new lease of life, the only man he had ever loved, but where was the boy? Brendan searched everywhere for Ste and was starting to get worried. He'd given up on his seedy life, but he had made so many enemies, what if on elf them had Ste. He tried phoning him, but it went straight to voicemail. He saw Tony and ran over to him to ask if he had seen Ste. Tony hesitated and finally admitted he had, but couldn't say anything. Brendan frowned and felt so confused.

Tony put a hand on Brendan's arm "don't worry he is fine and everything is ok, he just needs to tell you himself"

Tony told him to go back to the flat and wait so he did, and after an hour Ste returned a little red faced. Brendan stood up and strode over to him and put his hands through his hair and kissed his head. He was desperate to ask what was going on, but knew it had to come from Steven.

Ste looked up at him and smiled a small shy smile "Bren, I have, I have something to tell you, but don't get angry right"

"Go on Steven, I'm listening"

"I need to tell you what has been going on this last week"

Ste braved a look at Brendan, but he was just sitting intently staring at Ste waiting for him to talk.

"We'll, right, I've left the deli and asked Doug to buy me out, we had an argument and I just can't work with him anymore"

"What did Ye argue about Steven?"

"Err you Bren, he told me I was too good for you and you would never make me happy. I told him you already did and that you were the only man I'd ever loved and ever would so i had all I needed" Ste blushed as he said this and it sent a shock wave right to Brendan's cock. He really wanted to take the boy there and then, but needed to hear all he had to say.

"Well anyway, I needed to get away from him and ran out of the deli in a right mood and ran into Tony. I told him what had happened and he told me that there was a small shop for sale at the either end of the village. So I bought it and have been setting it up all week, I wanted to get it perfect before I showed it to you Bren"

"You should of told me Steven, I would of helped you"

"That's exactly why I didn't Bren, I needed to do this on my own"

Brendan took Ste's hand and led him into the bedroom, and told him there was something he did need Brendan for. With that he stripped them of their clothes and lay Ste on the bed and just took in his beauty. He lent down and kissed him from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet. He took his cock into his mouth and licked and sucked for all his was worth "Yes, Bren, yes"  
"You want this Steven, tell me you want this" "I want this Bren, I need it"  
Brendan smiled "going to make you come apart at the seams Steven" and he gently turned Steven over and explored his body, finally after begging fro. Ste, he roughly rimmed him with all his might, he attacked him with his tongue, until it was numb. He took his thumb and pushed into Ste's hole, god he was tight and Brendan loved it.

He couldn't wait anymore and put a condom on and pushed himself into hilover and started gently to move until Ste begged for him to go harder and quicker, he didn't need to be asked twice and roughly took his boy until they both spilt their juices. Brendan climbed off and pulled Ste in for a hug. He asked Ste if he would show him his new shop. They got showered and dressed and walked out of the flat together. Brendan took Ste's hand in his, which made Ste glow with happiness and the walked the short walk together.

As they were about to round the corner, Brendan stopped and smiled at Ste. "Steven Hay you have made me understand what love and trust is. I never knew either until I met you. I love you with all of my heart. It's three years today that we met and I wanted to mark the occasion" He took a small box out of his pocket "will you, will you move in with me, this is the key to my flat"

Ste just smiled and said nothing, he pulled Brendan's hand to make him move forward. Brendan frowned until he rounded the corner and show the sight infront of him. It was a small bakery with a sigh that said Brady's Place. Brendan looked at Ste and said "why, this is your place" "no, Bren it's our place, come closer to the window" Brendan stumbled to the window and saw just one cake in the window with a message iced on it that said, I love you Brendan please marry me.

"Well Ste said nervously, will you?"


	2. Chapter 2

Brendan just looked at Ste open mouthed, he couldn't speak. Ste's surprise was a totally shock to him and had taken the wind out of his sails. Ste was just looking at him begging him to say something, anything. When Brendan didn't Ste just snapped.

"you know what Brendan stick it, obviously you don't feel the same for me as I do you and you don't want to spend the rest of your life with me like I do you. So I'll give you and out, I'm off"

Thankfully this spurred Brendan into life and he ran after Ste and grabbed his arm and pulled him to him "Steven, wait just wait for fuck sake what are you playing at?"

"No Bren you know what I ain't doing this anymore, you and me, it's never going to work out. Don't know why I thought it would. I thought you loved me like I love you, but at least I know now. It's just the sex for you isn't it?"

Despite the importance of the situation Brendan couldn't help but smirk at that comment. "See it's just a joke to you ain't it. But to me, this is my life, I've given up everything for you and what do I get back hey... Nothing that's what"

Brendan sighed and clenched his fists so tightly that they went white, he was trying to keep himself calm and finding it very hard. "What the hell are you on about Steven, I have just told you what you mean to me and put my heart on the line for you. And what do you do trample all over it. Why are you behaving like this?"

"Because I am just a joke to you aren't I Bren? You like a quick shag, but as soon as it starts to get serious and commitment is mentioned you run a mile don't you? I just don't have the energy to do this anymore"

"You know what Steven fuck you, run back to Douglas and your nice easy life together. I'm out of here. I will not have my heart broken by you, I just won't". As he turns his back on Steven. He whispers so quietly that Ste can't make out the words "I love you and always will, you mean the world to me, be happy Steven"

Stubborn Ste just stands outside the bakery and watches Brendan walk away, wondering what went wrong. How did they go from Brendan asking him to move in with him to Brendan leaving him. He runs through the situation in his head and realises he over reacted he had accused Brendan of only wanting him for sex, how could he have been so stupid, he was the love of his life and if Brendan didn't want to marry him, well that was fine by him. He had asked him to move in with him and that was more than Ste could of ever hoped for.

He ran to Price Slice and bought a bottle of the Whiskey that Brendan liked best and ran to his flat. He showered and changed into his tightest jeans and a polo shirt that he unbutton, just the way Brendan like it. He was nervous as hell, had he ruined it and would Brendan forgive him.

He arrived at Brendan's flat quicker than expected, as he had been concentrating on what he was going to say. He knocked on the door and waited, Brendan eventually opened the door and Ste pushed him out of the way and held the bottle of Whiskey out to him.

"Right, don't say anything yeah Bren, let me finish what i need to say. I'm sorry, I love you with all my heart and I didn't mean to push you into something you weren't ready for. Living with you would mean more to me than anything and I hope you will forgive me and let me spend my life with you"

It was only at this point he noticed the suitcases by the front door and looked at Brendan in horror "you were going to leave me?" "yes Steven I WAS"  
Steven had a single solitary tear running down his cheek and he gulped back more, he shook his head and leant forward to kiss Brendan "Goodbye Brendan, I love you be happy" then he turned on his heels and ran as fast as he could, he didn't know where to go to and kept running, he climbed the staircase in front of him and ended up in Brendan's office in Chez Chez. He fell against the wall and finally let the tears fall, he was uncontrollably sobbing as he looked at the chair and the desk and remembered all the good times they'd had in here. "Oh Bren, I love you so much I am so sorry for everything"

"Steven you never have to apologise to me for anything remember that" Ste's head shot round to see Brendan in the doorway.

"How did you know where I would be?"

"It's where I would have come Steven"

Brendan closed the gap between them and knelt in front of Ste and cupped his face in his hands and kissed away the tears. He held him tight in his arms and stroked his head and calmed him down telling him not to cry and that everything was going to be alright, they were going to be alright.

"I love you Steven, you and me, it's never going to be easy, we are both hot headed and stubborn, but I don't want to be without you ever. Will you come back to the flat with me I want to show you something?"

He held his hand out for Steven and without a word they walked to the flat, Steven was still gently crying, he thought he had lost Brendan and they were over. He still wasn't sure what was happening and why Brendan wanted to go back to the flat, when the walked through the door Brendan's suitcases were still in the doorway and Ste just looked at them.

"Steven, i was hardly going to put them away when I had ye to chase after was I?"

"No I.. I suppose not, why are we here Bren?"

Brendan's heart leapt at the nickname, it meant things might just be okay. "I need to show you something, I was hoping to show you earlier today before... Before we argued"

With that Brendan held out his hand and led Ste upstairs to the bedroom, he looked very nervous and on edge as he opened the door and stepped out of the way. Ste walked forward and still remembers the moment his heart stopped beating. There in front of him was a bed covered in rose petals, with a bottle of champagne on the bedside table, but what made his heart stop was the banner across the bed that simply said "MARRY ME STEVEN... PLEASE"

Ste looked at Brendan who was blushing and looking at the floor "When did you do this Bren?"

"This morning before I left to find you to ask you to move in with me". "So when I took you to the bakery to ask you to marry me, you had already done this?"

"Yes Steven that is why I didn't answer you, I didn't know what to do you idiot"

"Oh Bren yes I will marry you"

"And I Steven can't wait to marry you"

"Bren, how difficult is it to get rose petals off your clothes"

"Who cares Steven who cares"

With that Steven pulled Brendan on the bed and they started the rest of their lives together. Both looking at the other one and thinking yep he's worth it.


End file.
